Written Answers Wednesday 10 May 2006

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to reduce ambulance cover in rural towns and villages in Aberdeenshire and Moray and which communities will be affected by any such plans.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Ambulance Service constantly monitors its performance to ensure that resources meet demand. There are no plans to reduce ambulance cover. The North East Division of the Scottish Ambulance Service, which covers Aberdeenshire and Moray, is trying to reduce on-call working by providing full-time resources which will enable it to meet demand and to respond faster to life threatening calls. In the last year, the ambulance service has introduced 24 hour working in Inverurie, Banff and Peterhead.

Cancer

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been for cancer patients from (a) diagnosis and (b) urgent GP referral to the start of treatment in each year since 2002, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: (a) Diagnosis to First treatment:

  Breast Cancer

  Information is collated centrally to report performance against the Scottish Executive target that by October 2001, women who have breast cancer and are referred for urgent treatment will begin that treatment within one month of diagnosis, where clinically appropriate.

  Given that the mean is affected disproportionately by a small number of waits that may be clinically appropriate, it is more useful to use the median to analyse trends in waiting times from quarter to quarter. As NHS Scotland makes progress towards meeting the Executive’s waiting time targets and treats more patients who have had longer waits, median waiting times will rise.

  Table 1: Number of Eligible Breast Cancer Patients Diagnosed Each Year, with the Median Wait Between Diagnosis and First Treatment, by Period of Diagnosis.

  

 Breast
 20021
 2003
 2004
 20052


 
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)


 Scotland
 2,451
 16
 3,605
 20
 3,501
 20
 2,877
 21


 Argyll and Clyde
 150
 10
 208
 11
 201
 13
 145
 12


 Ayrshire and Arran
 206
 14
 281
 14
 321
 15
 251
 16


 Borders
 71
 13
 46
 14
 56
 15
 64
 15


 Dumfries and Galloway
 72
 15
 98
 13
 101
 13
 87
 11


 Fife
 137
 15
 228
 22
 157
 20
 121
 20


 Forth Valley
 71
 13
 147
 13
 126
 13
 92
 15


 Grampian
 287
 35
 395
 30
 237
 31
 284
 35


 Greater Glasgow
 479
 15
 778
 20
 776
 20
 588
 21


 Highland
 95
 19
 166
 20
 175
 22
 146
 22


 Lanarkshire
 197
 9
 282
 13
 317
 14
 211
 15


 Lothian
 456
 18
 630
 21
 672
 24
 576
 22


 Orkney3
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 5
 0


 Shetland4
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 3
 24


 Tayside
 230
 25
 346
 27
 360
 24
 298
 27


 Western Isles5
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 n/a
 6
 19



  Notes:

  *Exclusion categories are: died prior to receiving treatment, refused treatment, patient induced non-clinical delay and co-morbidities.

  n/a: Not applicable due to small numbers.

  1. 2002 based on patients diagnosed between 1 April and 31 December 2002.

  2. 2005 based on patients diagnosed between 1 January and 30 September 2005.

  3. Orkney started reporting on their own patients from January 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  4. Shetland started reporting on their own patients from July 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  5. Western Isles started reporting on their own patients from October 2004, previously included with Highland.

  (ii) Other cancers1

  New systems were put in place from Q4 2004 to monitor compliance against the national cancer waiting times target that by the end of December 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months.

  Table 2: Number of Eligible Other Patients with Cancer1 Diagnosed Each Year, with the Median Wait Between Diagnosis and First Treatment, by Period of Diagnosis.

  

 Other Cancers1
 20042
 20053


 
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)


 Scotland
 1,375
 19
 6,697
 18


 Argyll and Clyde
 70
 21
 416
 15


 Ayrshire and Arran
 125
 19
 566
 15


 Borders
 37
 17
 163
 14


 Dumfries and Galloway
 44
 17
 201
 14


 Fife
 112
 16
 408
 22


 Forth Valley
 57
 22
 222
 22


 Grampian
 146
 14
 629
 13


 Greater Glasgow
 165
 16
 1,423
 17


 Highland
 58
 36
 295
 24


 Lanarkshire
 167
 19
 626
 18


 Lothian
 215
 19
 1,053
 20


 Orkney4
 -
 -
 22
 28


 Shetland5
 -
 -
 10
 28


 Tayside
 179
 23
 640
 22


 Western Isles6
 -
 -
 23
 15



  Notes

  *Exclusion categories are: died prior to receiving treatment and refused treatment. Patients with a patient induced non-clinical delay or co-morbidity were excluded from July 2005.

  1. 2004 includes colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers; January to March 2005 also includes melanoma; April to May 2005 also includes lymphoma while July to September 2005 also includes paediatric, urology, head and neck and upper GI cancers.

  2. 2004 based on patients diagnosed between 1 October and 31 December 2004.

  3. 2005 based on patients diagnosed between 1 January and 30 September 2005.

  4. Orkney started reporting on their own patients from January 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  5. Shetland started reporting on their own patients from July 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  6. Western Isles started reporting on their own patients from October 2004, previously included with Highland.

  (b) GP Urgent Referral to First Treatment

  In the period July to September 2004, new systems were piloted in breast cancer to monitor compliance against the national cancer waiting time target. Data on breast cancer for July to September 2004 are less robust than for later period. Information for earlier periods is not available.

  Data for the most recent period, July to September 2005, include breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, melanoma, lymphoma, urology, head and neck, upper GI and paediatric cancers.

  Table 3: Number of Eligible Patients with Cancer1 Diagnosed Each Year, with the Median Wait Between Urgent GP Referral and First Treatment, by NHS Board and Period of Diagnosis.

  

 All Cancers1
 20042
 20053


 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)
 Number of Eligible Patients*
 Median Wait (Days)


 Scotland
 1,265
 40
 3,634
 42


 Argyll and Clyde
 44
 24
 218
 28


 Ayrshire and Arran
 77
 40
 284
 44


 Borders
 28
 31
 89
 33


 Dumfries and Galloway
 44
 27
 105
 27


 Fife
 89
 41
 205
 53


 Forth Valley
 38
 39
 111
 46


 Grampian
 85
 54
 376
 48


 Greater Glasgow
 247
 34
 693
 41


 Highland
 54
 50
 145
 48


 Lanarkshire
 132
 33
 329
 39


 Lothian
 229
 44
 609
 46


 Orkney4
 -
 -
 15
 44


 Shetland5
 -
 -
 8
 50


 Tayside
 197
 54
 433
 42


 Western Isles6
 1
 n/a
 14
 55



  Notes:

  *Exclusion categories are: died prior to receiving treatment, refused treatment, patient induced non-clinical delay and co-morbidities.

  n/a: Not applicable due to small numbers.

  1. July to September 2004 includes breast cancer; October to December 2004 also includes colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers; January to March 2005 also includes melanoma; April to May 2005 also includes lymphoma while July to September 2005 also includes paediatric, urology, head and neck and upper GI cancers.

  2. 2004 based on patients diagnosed between 1 July and 31 December 2004.

  3. 2005 based on patients diagnosed between 1 January and 30 September 2005.

  4. Orkney started reporting on their own patients from January 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  5. Shetland started reporting on their own patients from July 2005, previously included with Grampian.

  6. Western Isles started reporting on their own patients from October 2004, previously included with Highland.

Children and Young People

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that a framework will be in operation to enable agencies and professionals to share information about individual children and to assess their needs in a consistent way, as identified by the Children and Young People Delivery Group as one of its five priorities.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is developing legislation on information sharing in relation to child protection. In addition, practice change is being supported through the Getting it Right for Every Child agenda and the development, through a pathfinder project in Highland, of the single assessment, record and plan which will support information sharing. The aim is to start national roll out from April 2007.

Education

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16445 by Peter Peacock on 18 May 2005, how many children left school with no qualifications in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: A table providing the latest available information covering 1999-2000 to 2004-05 is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39261). The data refers to school leavers who have not achieved a full course award at Standard Grade level or equivalent or better on leaving school.

Education

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been taught in temporary classrooms in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended number of hours of physical education is for each child in primary school.

Peter Peacock: All schools, primary and secondary, should be working towards the provision of at least two hours of good quality physical education for each child every week.

Environment

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to encourage Scottish people to respond to the UK Marine Bill consultation.

Ross Finnie: On the 29 March 2006, the Executive wrote to over 300 stakeholders alerting them to the consultation on the UK Marine Bill. The Scottish Coastal Forum are also planning to host an event in Perth on the 5 June to bring together stakeholders in the marine environment, Defra and the Executive, to discuss the implications of the bill and to encourage stakeholders to respond to the proposals contained within the consultation.

  My Advisory Group on the Marine and Coastal Strategy is looking into the issue, in parallel with the Defra consultation process, in some detail. We have also encouraged stakeholders to respond to the Marine Bill consultation through presentations and discussions at various events in Scotland such as the Scottish Coastal Forum’s conference in April and the Aquaculture working group also held in April.

G8 Summit

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding it matching the Scottish Executive’s commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the staging of the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: Community projects in Scotland are rightly the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) gifted memorabilia to Perth and Kinross Council but the main legacy of the G8 was the exposure that the area received on television and newspapers around the world and the longer term economic benefit that we believe will result from that in the way of tourism and other economic activity in the council area. As such it would be wholly inappropriate to expect the FCO to match the funding committed by the Executive.

G8 Summit

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 will be implemented through a grant or match funding.

Mr Tom McCabe: The First Minister has committed up to a maximum of £500,000 towards the cost of the upgrading and refurbishment of Aytoun Hall, subject to the council or the local community being able to raise the remaining funding. The actual method of payment will be agreed once the council advise on the funding proposals for the refurbishment

G8 Summit

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 will be for projects chosen by the Executive or by the community of Auchterarder.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £500,000 committed to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 could be made available to refurbish Aytoun Hall.

Mr Tom McCabe: The First Minister announced in July 2006 that a commitment of up to a maximum of £500,000 will be used for the specific purpose of upgrading and refurbishment of Aytoun Hall. This is subject to Perth and Kinross Council and/or the local community being able to raise any remaining funding required.

Homelessness

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was made available to local authorities to deal specifically with homeless people in each year since 1999, shown per head of the homeless population.

Malcolm Chisholm: Funding made available to local authorities to deal with homelessness issues is shown in the following table for each year since 1999-2000.

  It is not possible to identify the numbers of people assisted through this expenditure, since the expenditure figures include funding for prevention and diversion activities with people who do not then go on to present as homeless to the local authority.

  Other Scottish Executive funding lines, such as Supporting People, also contribute to tackling issues of homelessness.

  SE Funding to Local Authorities for Homelessness Activity, 1999-2000 to 2006-07

  

 Year
Total Homelessness Funding(£)


 1999-2000
 12,623,359


 2000-01
 15,199,000


 2001-02
 21,284,600


 2002-03
 33,381,000


 2003-04
 42,231,000


 2004-05
 55,290,000


 2005-06
 56,365,000


 2006-07
 56,949,000

Housing

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what budgetary allocation has been made to local authorities for each of the last four years to make provision for replacement of lead piping within (a) private sector and (b) public sector households.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows.

  Since 2003-04 grant has been allocated to local authorities to fund improvements in private sector housing including the replacement of lead piping. Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG) is unhypothecated and it is for local authorities to decide on priorities. In 2006-07, £65 million PSHG has been allocated to local authorities.

  In terms of public sector housing it is for each local authority to make provision for improvements mainly from rental income.

Housing

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in the social rented sector there were in each of the 32 local authority areas in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005.

Malcolm Chisholm: Figures on local authority stock as at 31 March of each year are published in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series)  Housing trends in Scotland: quarters ending 31 March. This is available on-line in the publications section of the housing statistics branch reference site http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref .

  Figures on registered social landlord stock as at 31 March of each year are published by Communities Scotland in Scottish Registered Social Landlord Statistics. The reports for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are available on-line in the publications (statistics) section at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk.

  Figures for 31 March 2003 are shown in the following table.

  Registered Social Landlord Stock as at 31 March 2003

  

 Local Authority
 


 Aberdeen City
 3,685


 Aberdeenshire
 3,194


 Angus
 2,828


 Argyll and Bute
 2,501


 Clackmannanshire
 1,734


 Dumfries and Galloway
 2,144


 Dundee City
 8,262


 East Ayrshire
 2,933


 East Dunbartonshire
 704


 East Lothian
 1,463


 East Renfrewshire
 938


 Edinburgh, City of
 12,948


 Eilean Siar
 249


 Falkirk
 2,653


 Fife
 6,749


 Glasgow City
 122,044


 Highland
 4,541


 Inverclyde
 3,566


 Midlothian
 2,686


 Moray
 1,070


 North Ayrshire
 4,020


 North Lanarkshire
 8,214


 Orkney Islands
 377


 Perth and Kinross
 2,559


 Renfrewshire
 6,548


 Scottish Borders
 12,517


 Shetland Islands
 278


 South Ayrshire
 1,429


 South Lanarkshire
 4,129


 Stirling
 1,270


 West Dunbartonshire
 5,815


 West Lothian
 4,424


 Scotland
 238,472



  Source: Communities Scotland.

  Note: 1. Figures consist of self-contained units.

Housing

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in the social rented sector were sold under right to buy in each of the 32 local authority areas in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005.

Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of local authority dwellings sold to sitting tenants are accessible on-line through the data library in the publications and data section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref (sales to sitting tenants: table 4 (financial year to 2004-05) or table 6 (calendar year to 2004)). Data for 2005 will be published on 23 May 2006.

  The number of sales of registered social landlord property are shown in the following table.

  Sales of Registered Social Landlord Property to Sitting Tenants

  

 Local Authority
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Aberdeen City
 28
 25
 26


 Aberdeenshire
 16
 16
 8


 Angus
 25
 22
 11


 Argyll and Bute
 7
 5
 6


 Clackmannanshire
 37
 21
 17


 Dumfries and Galloway
 10
 453
 282


 Dundee City
 44
 29
 28


 East Ayrshire
 72
 33
 28


 East Dunbartonshire
 17
 18
 13


 East Lothian
 26
 10
 20


 East Renfrewshire
 9
 5
 4


 Edinburgh, City of
 47
 49
 45


 Eilean Siar
 0
 0
 0


 Falkirk
 26
 15
 19


 Fife
 80
 76
 53


 Glasgow City
 288
 1,626
 1,101


 Highland
 47
 49
 39


 Inverclyde
 44
 40
 26


 Midlothian
 58
 39
 30


 Moray
 0
 1
 1


 North Ayrshire
 63
 46
 46


 North Lanarkshire
 81
 68
 75


 Orkney Islands
 0
 0
 0


 Perth and Kinross
 1
 1
 0


 Renfrewshire
 87
 99
 62


 Scottish Borders
 139
 308
 311


 Shetland Islands
 0
 1
 3


 South Ayrshire
 29
 19
 16


 South Lanarkshire
 32
 37
 35


 Stirling
 8
 7
 1


 West Dunbartonshire
 42
 37
 46


 West Lothian
 44
 33
 28


 Rent to Mortgage
 101
 
 


 Scotland
 1,508
 3,188
 2,380



  Source: Communities Scotland.

  Note: 1. Includes right to buy and rent to mortgage, except for 2002-03 where rent to mortgage sales cannot be broken down by local authority area.

Housing

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new completions of houses in the social rented sector there were in each of the 32 local authority areas in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005 and how many of these were as a result of developer planning gain contributions.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on number of new house completions in the social rented sector in each year from 1992 to 2004 in each of the 32 local authority areas was provided in my reply to Alex Neil in S2W-24608 on 12 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Information for 2005 will become available following publication of the December 2005 Housing Statistics Bulletin on 23 May 2006. Information is not held centrally on the number of these which were as a result of developer planning gain contributions.

Migration

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are expected to move residence to Edinburgh in the next five years.

George Lyon: The latest population projections, based on the 2004 mid-year population estimates, assume a net in-migration of 11,350 people to Edinburgh City Council area over the next five years.

NHS Expenditure

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by each NHS board in each year since 1995 on (a) administration and (b) management, expressed (i) as a percentage of total budget and (ii) per head of population.

Mr Andy Kerr: Administrative and management staff make an invaluable contribution to the operation of the health service, organising services in a way which provides equitable access to the highest possible levels of sustainable quality care and ensuring that the patient's journey through the system is made as smooth as possible, for example through effective management of patient records and efficient scheduling of appointments.

  Administration

  The boards’ spending on administration costs are taken from note 6 of the published annual accounts for each respective financial year.

  The definition of administration expenditure has changed over the period due to changes in accounting guidance and also in the configuration of the health service, particularly the dissolution of NHS trusts. Consequently the figures shown may not be entirely comparable over these years.

  Expenditure will include the costs associated with the board's responsibilities for the planning and commissioning of health care for its resident population (such as statutory reporting, strategic planning, commissioning of health care and financial projections), but not those costs associated with the provision of health care and other non clinical services provided by the board.

  Management

  The boards’ spending on management costs are taken from the Scottish Financial Return (SFR) 5.2, which is completed by each hospital and submitted to the NHS National Services Scotland Information and Statistics Division for publication in the Costs Book.

  This expenditure reports the hospital management and administrative costs which includes the following support services:

  Medical: Hospital Medical/Paramedical Administrative Support;

  Nursing: Senior Nursing and Hospital Administrative Support;

  Medical Records;

  General: Hospital administration, including senior management, and

  Agency: Administrative agency staff and agency services.

  Budgets

  Prior to the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) to the Scottish Executive in 2001-02 health boards were given a cash allocation. Their budgets for those years have therefore been taken as their revenue cash allocation. From 2001-02 onwards the total budget for each board is taken as their Revenue Resource Limit (RRL) which is reported in their annual accounts.

  Population

  The figures for the population of each board area are published by the General Register Office for Scotland.

  Administration Expenditure Analysis

  (a) The amount spent by NHS boards from 1995-96 to 1997-98 on administration, expressed both as (i) a percentage of total budget; and (ii) per head of population is given in table 1 of NHS Administration and Management Costs 1995 – 2004 which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39532).

  Details of the amount spent by individual boards on administration is not available for these three years. However these details are shown in table 1 for the years from 1998-99 to 2004-05 by individual health boards.

  Management Expenditure Analysis

  (b) The amount spent by each NHS board from 1995-96 to 2004-05 on management, expressed both as (i) a percentage of total budget; and (ii) per head of population is given in table 2 of NHS Administration and Management Costs 1995 – 2004 which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39532).

NHS Staff

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is available on the number of NHS staff who are unable to have meals or rest breaks during a shift owing to pressure of work or because they are covering for staff shortages.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

NHS Waiting Times

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have waited more than (a) three, (b) six, (c) nine, (d) 12, (e) 15, (f) 18 and (g) 24 months for (i) heart operations, (ii) cancer treatment and (iii) hip replacements in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board and NHS hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: The majority of patients who require in-patient and day case treatment, including heart operations and hip replacement surgery, are treated quickly. Over 53% of patients treated in NHSScotland hospitals receive immediate treatment and never join a waiting list. Of those whose condition does not require immediate treatment and who are placed on a waiting list, over 40% are admitted within one month and almost 70% within three months.

  The Executive has been steadily reducing the maximum waiting time for those patients who wait longer. The national maximum waiting time was reduced from 12 months to nine months on 31 December 2003 and to six months on 31 December 2005. This will be further reduced to 18 weeks from the end of 2007. On 31 December 2005, no patient with a guarantee had waited more than six months for a heart operation or for hip replacement surgery.

  NHSScotland is making good progress towards meeting the next key target of a maximum wait of 18 weeks by the end of 2007. At that point, a new approach to defining and measuring waiting will also be introduced to replace availability status codes (ASCs), which have the effect at present of excluding patients from waiting times guarantees where for example, they are medically unfit for treatment, where they have asked for their treatment to be postponed, or where their treatment is highly specialised or of low clinical priority. The new approach will be fairer, more consistent and more transparent.

  Retrospective analyses of waiting times for hospital treatment compiled from SMR01 returns are based on data that does not record whether patients have had an ASC applied. Information requested on heart operations and hip replacements has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39493): it includes the waiting times of patients who have been exempted from the guarantee for the reasons given above and therefore overstates true waiting times. It is not possible to estimate the extent of the overstatement. The SMR3 waiting times census data, which excludes patients with ASCs, is used for target compliance purposes, and the tables provided also include SMR3 data for hip replacements for NHSScotland from the censuses undertaken on 31 December in each year since 1999 and for angiography, angioplasty and coronary artery bypass graft surgery for NHSScotland from the censuses undertaken on 31 December in each year since 2002.

  Waiting times for cancer treatments equivalent to the waiting times for the other specified procedures are not available from routinely collected hospital data, as complete information is not captured on all treatment types, such as hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, and not all cancer treatments require a hospital admission.

  Information on cancer waiting times is currently gathered through cancer audit systems in order to measure the target that "by December 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months" from Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change, published in 2001. Information showing performance against the target by NHS Board of diagnosis is currently available for breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, melanoma, lymphoma, urological, Upper GI and head and neck cancers and is available from the following Scottish Executive website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/cancer/cancerwaits.

Planning

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its opinion is of the academic study published in October 2005 which showed that only four of the 32 local authorities had carried out an audit of open space.

Malcolm Chisholm: As part of an independent research study, part-funded by the Scottish Executive on Minimum Standards for Open Space, researchers contacted all Scottish local authorities seeking information on progress towards the preparation of open space audits and strategies. As of August 2004, 19 local authorities indicated that they had begun preparation or completed an open space audit for all or part of their district.

  National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 11: Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space, which is currently under review, is considering ways to ensure local authorities carry out an audit and prepare a strategy for open space within their area. A draft will be published for consultation in the near future.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland to cover bodies set up by local authorities.

Mr Tom McCabe: Under the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc. (Scotland) Act 2003, the commissioner’s remit only extends to appointments made (or recommended by) ministers to the boards of the specified authorities listed in schedule 2 to the act. The bodies listed in the schedule are regularly reviewed but, as a matter of general policy, we have no plans at present to extend its coverage to bodies set up by local authorities.

Public Private Partnerships

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23496 by Mr Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006, whether consideration has been given to stipulating within PPP contracts the basis for costing variations.

Mr Tom McCabe: The prescribed change procedures in the variations section of the standard form of PPP contract provides a basis for costing variations. This section sets out how an estimated change in project costs should be calculated, and includes placing the onus on the contractor to mitigate costs, demonstrate transparency of costings, and ensure costs are benchmarked against prevailing market rates.

Public Private Partnerships

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14238 by Mr Tom McCabe on 8 March 2005, whether it will make public the appraisals of the non-profit-distributing model pilot it has provided to authorities and their professional advisers and, if so, when it will do so.

Mr Tom McCabe: The final business case for Argyll and Bute Council’s non-profit distributing model schools project is available from the council’s website www.argyll-bute.gov.uk , and shows that the pilot project has demonstrated value for money. The model is now being taken forward by two other councils for their schools projects.

  General information about the model which has been provided to interested authorities, professional advisers and the market is available from the Executive Financial Partnerships Unit’s website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp.

Road Accidents

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fatalities resulting from road traffic accidents were recorded by the General Register Office for Scotland in each of the last five years.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table. Because of definitional differences, the numbers recorded by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) may differ slightly from those derived from police road accident statistics. For example, the latter exclude deaths occurring more than 30 days after the date of the accident.

  Road Traffic Accident Deaths Recorded by GROS

  

 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 343
 369
 321
 351
 326

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what fuel costs it has incurred in each year since 2001, broken down by department.

Mr Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19100 on 20 September 2005. The full figures for 2005-06 should be available shortly. I will write to you again, including an updated version of the table, when the final figures for 2005-06 become available.

Scottish Executive Procurement

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14458 by Mr Tom McCabe on 17 March 2005, which major capital procurement projects it is currently working on, broken down by procurement method and value of each project and indicating, where appropriate, the value of any associated art budgeted for or procured.

Mr Tom McCabe: There are currently nine major capital projects (defined as projects with an estimated value of at least £5 million) being undertaken by core Executive Departments.

  The breakdown is as follows:

  

 Project
Value Cost (£ Million)
 Procurement Method


 Building project for the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency at Gartcosh
 Not yet confirmed
Undecided


 Jordanhill School Estate Development project
 6.0
 Conventional


 Electronic Monitoring
 38.0
 Conventional


 e-Counting
 7.7
 Conventional


 System Integration
 30.0
 Conventional


 Supply of ICT Contractors
 21.0
 Conventional


 Scottish Schools Digital Network
 37.5
 Conventional


 SSI Broadband
 16.49
 Conventional


 eRDM
 15.0
 Conventional



  There is no associated art budgeted for or procured for any of these projects.

  Since the reply to previous question S2W-14458 was answered, the number of major capital projects being undertaken by the core Executive has decreased. This is due to the setting up of the Transport Scotland Agency which now deals with a number of capital projects for roads and rail. These are detailed on their website, the address for which is: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/.

  Information on any PPP projects in Scotland is available on the Scottish Executive Financial Partnership Unit’s website under projects at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp

Sexual Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23289 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006, which NHS boards have taken up the provision of chlamydia postal testing kits through bulk and shared purchasing arranged by the Executive.

Mr Andy Kerr: National Procurement is at present conducting research into the potential demand from NHS boards across Scotland following on from the Lothian pilot study. Following this review, and if sufficient demand exists, then a national contract will be established. It is estimated that the timescales will be between four and six months for a national contract to be established.

Sexual Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23289 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006, which NHS boards have taken up the provision of sexually transmitted infection diagnostic kits through bulk and shared purchasing arranged by the Executive.

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23289 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006, what percentage of the additional £4.5 million given to NHS boards to help implement the national sexual health strategy has been used to purchase sexually transmitted infection diagnostic kits.

Mr Andy Kerr: At present the Executive is investigating the potential to extend the Chlamydia postal testing kit, which was developed by Healthy Respect, to include other sexually transmitted infections.

Sexual Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23289 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006, what measures it has in place to ensure that the additional £4.5 million given to NHS boards to help implement the national sexual health strategy is used for that purpose.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is our intention to publish, later this year, an annual progress report on implementation of the sexual health strategy. This will provide information on how NHS boards have allocated their share of the additional £4.5 million, which was distributed on Arbuthnott principles.

Sexual Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25088 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 April 2006, how much of the additional £4.5 million given to NHS boards to help implement the national sexual health strategy has been set aside to pay the salaries of the executive directors and lead clinicians appointed in each board area for this purpose.

Mr Andy Kerr: None of the additional £4.5 million allocated to NHS boards to help implement the national sexual health strategy has been set aside to pay the salaries of executive directors. We do not hold information centrally on how much of the allocated funding has been set aside to pay the salaries of lead clinicians, however, the annual progress report on the strategy, which we intend to publish later this year, will provide information on how NHS boards have used the additional £4.5 million.

Social Inclusion

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of the Scottish clearing banks to consider the banks’ contribution to tackling financial exclusion and what issues were discussed.

Johann Lamont: The Executive met with the banks and other stakeholders on the 17 January this year. Items discussed included:

  The First Year Implementation Plan for the Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland.

  The Scottish Executive’s Financial Inclusion Action Plan.

  HM Treasury’s intention to work with the banking industry regarding reducing the number of people who are "unbanked" – which is a GB-wide initiative.

Social Inclusion

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many basic bank accounts have been taken up since their inception, broken down by year.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive does not have information about the number of basic bank accounts opened in Scotland.

Social Inclusion

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of people in Scotland who are "unbanked" has reduced since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Household Survey has found that, in the first three quarters of 2005, a bank or building society account was held by the respondent or partner in 91.1% of households, compared to 85.7% in 1999. In the most deprived 15% of areas the increase was from 67.5% in 1999 to 81.6% in the first three quarters of 2005.

  These figures do not include post office or credit union accounts. If they are included then 94.9% of households in the first three quarters of 2005 had an account with either a bank, building society, post office, or credit union. A comparable figure for 1999 is not available from the Scottish Household Survey.

Social Inclusion

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures the impact of its actions to tackle financial exclusion.

Johann Lamont: Financial Inclusion is part of the Executive’s wider Closing the Opportunity Gap approach to overcoming poverty and decisions on how this will be evaluated will be made in due course. Individual initiatives currently being measured include the number of front line money advisers in post in each local authority area, the growth in credit union membership and numbers receiving financial literacy training.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24753 by Robert Brown on 19 April 2006, how much funding each organisation listed received from the Unified Voluntary Sector Fund in 2004-05 and how much it is proposed that each will receive from this source in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Robert Brown: The Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund can support renewable core funding for headquarter costs, non-renewable project funding and one-off capital grants. The answer to question S2W-24753 identified the organisations currently receiving funding. Awards made to those organisations in 2004-05 and 2006-07 are detailed as follows and, where applicable, funding for 2007-08. Some organisations apply annually for funding so an outcome for 2007-08 is not yet known. Awards for 2007-08 are indicated for organisations whose core funding was due to terminate at the end of 2005-06 and who have received two year renewals and for three year project awards from the 2005-06 funding round.

  

 Core Funding for Headquarters Costs
2004-05(£)
2006-07(£)
2007-08(£)2


 Youth Policy
 
 
 


 Abernethy Trust1
 7,000
 7,000
 


 Boys’ Brigade
 42,740
 43,809
 43,809


 BTCV
 31,900
 32,698
 


 Boys and Girls’ Clubs of Scotland1
 30,780
 31,550
 


 Caledonian Awards1
 15,400
 15,785
 


 Campaigners
 7,600
 7,790
 7,790


 Chess Scotland
 10,040
 10,291
 


 Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council
 11,040
 11,316
 


 Community Service Volunteers
 73,740
 75,584
 


 Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme
 22,840
 23,411
 


 Fabb Scotland
 27,500
 28,188
 


 Fairbridge in Scotland
 50,340
 51,599
 


 Fast Forward
 80,000
 82,000
 


 Girls’ Brigade1
 13,480
 13,817
 


 Guide Association
 18,700
 19,168
 


 International Voluntary Service
 8,800
 9,020
 9,020


 Iona Community1
 7,000
 7,175
 


 Ocean Youth Trust
 33,300
 34,133
 


 Scottish Association of Young Farmers
 65,240
 66,000
 66,000


 Scottish Centres
 67,040
 67,040
 67,040


 Scottish Crusaders
 7,600
 7,790
 7,790


 Scottish National Council of YMCAs
 64,400
 66,010
 66,010


 Scottish Youth Parliament
 123,000
 251,125
 


 SSC (A Club for the Youth of Scotland)
 9,000
 9,225
 


 Scout Association
 35,100
 35,978
 35,978


 Venture Scotland
 46,140
 47,294
 


 Woodcraft Folk
 11,700
 11,993
 


 Youth Scotland
 87,800
 92,245
 


 YouthLink Scotland
 116,200
 119,105
 119,105


 YWCA of Great Britain
 53,840
 55,186
 55,186


 John Muir Trust 
 10,000
 10,250
 


 LGBT Youth Scotland
 50,000
 51,250
 


 Looked After Children
 
 
 


 Adoption UK
 11,040
 11,316
 


 BAAF
 56,380
 59,234
 


 Family Care
 42,900
 43,973
 


 Fostering Network
 56,640
 58,056
 


 Scottish Child Law Centre
 87,580
 92,453
 


 Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum (STAAF)
 51,280
 58,371
 58,371


 Who Cares? Scotland
 125,700
 132,063
 


 Children General
 
 
 


 Children in Scotland
 255,000
 261,375
 


 Article 12
 12500
 51,250
 


 Scottish Women’s Aid (Children)
 55,000
 61,500
 


 Children’s Parliament
 
 74,928
 


 Child Protection
 
 
 


 Childline
 77,240
 79,171
 


 Children First
 92,400
 94,710
 


 Early Education and Childcare - including disabilities and parenting
 
 
 


 National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries
 27,300
 27,983
 


 National Playbus Association Scotland
 34,100
 34,953
 


 Play Scotland
 55,400
 56,785
 


 Scottish Childminding Association
 57,500
 160,925
 


 Scottish Out of School Care Network
 170,440
 174,701
 


 Scottish Pre-School Play Association
 198,600
 203,565
 


 National Playing Field Association
 15,000
 15,375
 


 CNSA
 76,400
 82,718
 


 Capability Scotland
 50,000
 51,250
 


 Homestart
 104,800
 107,420
 


 Parentline 
 116,000
 118,900
 


 Sense Scotland
 64,840
 66,974
 


 Contact a Family Scotland
 50,000
 51,250
 


 Cruse Bereavement (Scotland)
 31,940
 32,739
 32,739


 Parent Network Scotland
 22,740
 23,309
 23,309


 One Parent Families Scotland
 56,800
 58,220
 58,220


 Butterfly Trust
 42,000
 43,050
 


 CCNUK
 38,440
 39,401
 


 Families Outside
 59,400
 60,885
 


 Sleep Scotland
 36,600
 37,515
 


 Parenting across Scotland
 
 143,500
 


 SWSI Section 9
 
 
 


 Children in Scotland
 81,677
 86,613
 86,613


 Scottish Childminding Association
 27,900
 28,598
 


 Family Support Organisations
 
 
 


 Couple Counselling Scotland (core and training grants)
 285,540
 282,428
 


 Family Mediation Scotland (core and training grants)
 174,689
 179,036
 


 Scottish Marriage Care (core and training grants)
 110,557
 82,571
 


 Stepfamily Scotland (core and training grants)
 39,904
 40,902
 


 Family Mediation Borders
 34,553
 35,417
 


 Family Mediation Central
 86,094
 88,246
 


 Family Mediation Dumfries and Galloway
 61,303
 62,836
 


 Family Mediation Fife (Tayside)
 36,144
 37,048
 


 Family Mediation Grampian
 48,096
 49,298
 


 Family Mediation Highland
 49,779
 51,023
 


 Family Mediation Lothian
 56,277
 57,684
 


 Family Mediation Tayside
 66,382
 68,042
 


 Family Mediation West
 159,579
 163,568
 


 Family Mediation Western Isles
 29,259
 29,990
 


 Special Education/ ASN Grants
 
 
 


 AFASIC
 30,987
 33,661
 


 Govan Law Centre
 73,480
 84,973
 


 Partners in Advocacy
 27,822
 29,192
 


 Highland Children’s Forum
 
 22,409
 


 Health3
 
 
 


 Action for Sick Children
 10,000
 10,250
 


 Bobath Scotland
 6,000
 6,150
 6,150


 Breastfeeding Network
 2,000
 2,050
 


 Brittle Bone Society
 10,000
 10,250
 10,250


 Children in Scotland
 7,000
 7,175
 


 Child Hospice Association Scotland
 25,000
 25,625
 


 Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Association
 8,000
 8,200
 


 Education and Resources for Childhood Continence
 3,000
 3,075
 


 Hearts and Minds (Clowndoctors)
 7,000
 7,175
 


 National Childbirth Trust
 6,000
 6,150
 


 Genetic Interest Group
 
 20,500
 


 Scottish Network for Families Affected by Drugs
 
 51,250
 


 Project Grants
 
 
 


 Children General
 
 
 


 NCH Factfile
 25,000
 25,000
 


 NCH Self Harm Project
 30,000
 30,000
 


 Aberlour Childcare Trust - participation worker
 
 32,708
 33,516


 Child Protection
 
 
 


 Child Protection in Sport (Children 1st)
 61,240
 59,840
 


 Safe, Strong & Free Project
 15,000
 15,000
 


 Roshni
 
 12,784
 


 Early Education & Childcare including disabilities and parenting
 
 
 


 SPARK (Princess Royal Sports & Community Trust)
 16,000
 16,000
 


 CCNUK
 5,000
 5,000
 


 Scottish Independent Nurseries
 12,900
 
 


 Looked After Children
 
 
 


 Reading Rich (NCH)
 30,000
 30,000
 


 Roc Project (Aberlour)
 38,740
 42,480
 


 Route 14-25 (Princes Trust)
 40,000
 40,000
 


 Mentoring Project
 75,000
 75,000
 


 Kibble: intensive fostering services for adolescent males
 
 28,634
 30,066


 Youth Policy
 
 
 


 National Peer Education (Fastforward)
 62,380
 65,180
 


 RNID Youth services for young deaf people
 
 30,000
 30,000


 Section 9 Training Grant
 
 
 


 Befriending Network
 17,680
 17,600
 


 Family Mediation etc
 
 
 


 Couple Counselling Scotland Helpline Research
 10,000
 10,000
 


 Scottish Marriage Care (helpline research 2004-05) (Young Parents Relationships 2006-08)
 30,000
 21,000
 52,000


 Special Education/ ASN
 
 
 


 AFASIC
 33,011
 40,243
 


 Caledonian Family Awards
 30,000
 36,000
 


 Capability Scotland
 50,000
 50,000
 


 Children in Scotland (SNAG)
 43,500
 43,500
 


 Down’s Syndrome Scotland
 27,411
 28,748
 


 Drake Music Project Scotland
 30,000
 30,000
 


 Enable Scotland
 38,075
 38,619
 


 Govan Law Centre
 6,500
 1,625
 


 MOVE Scotland
 42,166
 49,584
 


 National Autistic Society (Transitions)
 82,645
 73,886
 


 National Autistic Society (Post Diagnostic Officer)
 50,000
 50,000
 


 Project Ability
 17,128
 16,230
 


 Scottish Dyslexia Trust
 29,760
 36,160
 


 Shaw Trust
 32,526
 31,537
 


 Stories in the Air
 60,000
 74,000
 


 The Yard
 46,129
 84,263
 


 Equity
 50,000
 50,000
 


 A:Live Collusion Theatre Performance
 
 28,895
 


 Health3
 
 
 


 Neurofibromatosis Association
 10,000
 10,000
 10,000


 Action for Sick Children
 
 22,675
 



  Notes:

  1. These organisations apply annually for funding.

  2. All future grants are indicative; the authority to spend is dependent on completion of the annual Parliamentary budget process.

  3. For 2004-05 health grants were not part of the Unified Fund – the awards included in the table for that year were Health Section16B Grants.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Child Care

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the creation of the advisory group in January 2006, what progress has been made in reviewing and developing the use of the Parliament’s crèche facility.

Nora Radcliffe: : I was pleased to be invited to chair the Crèche Advisory Group in considering how to maximise the potential of the crèche facilities.

  The SPCB agreed in March to the group’s interim proposal to extend the use of the crèche facilities to all pass holders on a six month trial basis at a market rate.

  The group’s final report and recommendations have been considered by SPCB this week. I am delighted to announce that SPCB have agreed to all the group’s recommendations to promote the crèche more proactively and also to trial Saturday opening of the crèche for families visiting at weekends, in an effort to make best use of the tremendous facility we have here at Holyrood. The crèche will also be made available for Parliament-led events.

  The SPCB has also noted the frustrated demand for the Parliament’s education programme with 400 schools – that is 12,000 pupils - being turned away in 2004-05. The SPCB wishes to consider the further engagement opportunities offered by the current crèche space. It has commissioned work on a feasibility study to consider converting part of the crèche into an additional education unit. This would not in any way upset the existing level of service which supports up to 10 children at any one time. This would continue. But it could greatly enhance the education programme.

  The Corporate Body will consider the outcome of the extended passholder pilot, the Saturday opening and the impact of increased promotional activity in October, when it will also have the results of the feasibility work on converting part of the existing crèche space for educational use.

Holyrood Building

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an up-to-date report on the repair to the roof of the Chamber.

Kenny MacAskill: The member’s question is timely, given that today we met back in the Chamber. The first phase of the restoration is complete. Work continues to develop the next step in the process – the final detailed design of Phase II of the solution, planned for the summer recess.

Members’ Restaurant

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what progress has been made in respect of a Scottish food fortnight in the Members’ Restaurant.

Kenny MacAskill: I acknowledge Ms Grahame’s interest in this matter. She will be pleased to learn that we are arranging a Scottish food fortnight in the Members’ Restaurant starting on the 4 of September to coincide with Scottish Food Fortnight campaign for 2006 and we intend to advertise this to members in early June.

Parliamentary Allowances

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it intends to review the allowances system, with specific emphasis on MSPs’ staff salaries.

Nora Radcliffe: MSPs employ their own staff. The current Allowances Scheme, approved by the Parliament in June 2001, provides a Members Support Allowance to cover a number of costs and expenses including salaries of employees. The SPCB does not have any responsibility, in terms of the Allowances Scheme, for the setting of the salaries which MSPs as employers pay their employees. Even if the SPCB was contemplating a review, which it has no immediate plans to do, there would not be specific emphasis on MSPs’ staff salaries.